REAL TALK
If the latest Astros-Bregman reports have you feeling a certain way, consider this
Feb 13, 2024, 3:53 pm
Everyone is saying the right things, but… Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images.
Optimism is a good thing, but you might want to mix in a shot of realism, with a skepticism chaser.
Recently, Alex Bregman’s agent Scott Boras said that the Astros third baseman “has made it clear that he’s open to listening to whatever the Astros have to say.”
That was quickly followed by Astros general manager Dana Brown saying, “We’d love to have him (Bregman) here and as far as the timeline, we just don’t have it. But we will at some point make an offer.”
Astros fans and some in sports media added one plus one together and came up with $225 million over seven years or some other high-priced, multiyear deal for Bregman to stay in Houston.
That’s why we’ve seen headlines like these recently:
“Alex Bregman will definitely get Astros contract offer.”
“Astros GM says they’re going to offer Bregman an extension.”
“Astros plan to extend Bregman despite outside noise.”
Technically all that’s true. At some point, and they’d better hurry because spring training starts this week, the Astros probably will write a number on a piece of paper and slide it across the table to Bregman.
But the devil’s in the details. We don’t know what the Astros will offer Bregman, but here’s a detail we do know. The Astros have never offered a contract longer than six years or more than $150 million. Bregman is expected to ask for more years and way, way more money than that.
What about Boras saying Bregman is open to talk extension with the Astros? What would you expect Bregman to say – I’ll see you guys next year but I’ll be wearing a different uniform? If Bregman said he was closing the door on the Astros, he would lose the fan support he obsessively covets in Houston.
As for the Astros promising fans that they will make Bregman an offer to stay? I’ll take them at their word, but what’s in the offer? Will the Astros break their covenant on not offering huge bucks and super multiyear contracts? It’s very unlikely in the case of Bregman who, while still a nice player, has seen his numbers decline in recent years.
What do you expect the Astros to say – sorry fans, we know what he wants and we just can’t afford that?
Occasionally I’ll get a call from one of those companies offering to buy my house, sight unseen, no closing costs, no inspections, no commission, no nothing. You see these guys on TV, too. They’ll have an offer to me by end of business tomorrow. Are they offering the same price the house across the street just sold for? Not even close.
Bregman wants to be paid what the third baseman across the street is paid.
The Astros have made lowball (or no) offers to keep star players in the past. George Springer, Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Correa, Charlie Morton and others all took bigger money and went elsewhere. The only icon who re-upped to stay with the Astros is Jose Altuve and he’s four years older than Bregman and a future Hall of Famer.
You never know how these things work out, or what kind of magic pen the accountants can wave, but until there’s a press conference with Bregman wearing an Astros jersey over his business suit …
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Alex Bregman couldn’t hold back the smile when he was asked who might have had the biggest impact on his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox.
“My favorite player Dustin Pedroia,” Bregman said of the club's former second baseman and two-time World Series champion.
“He reached out a few times this offseason and talked about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox,” Bregman said Sunday. “It was really cool to be able to talk to him as well as so many other former players here in Boston and current players on the team as well.”
A day after Bregman's $120 million, three-year contract was announced, he sat at a 25-minute news conference between his agent, Scott Boras, and Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Manager Alex Cora, who gave Bregman a hug after he handed the infielder his No. 2 jersey, also was at the table along with team president Sam Kennedy.
Breslow and Cora wouldn't say whether Bregman would move to play second base, Pedroia's position, or remain at third — a position manned by Rafael Devers since July 2017.
A few players, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder among them, and coaches stood behind the seated reporters to listen.
Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.
Asked why he agreed to the shorter contract with opt outs, he leaned forward to the microphone in front of him and replied: “I just think I believe in my abilities.”
Originally selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2012 amateur draft, Bregman attended LSU before the Houston Astros picked him second overall in 2015. His family history with the Red Sox goes back further.
“My dad grew up sitting on Ted Williams’ lap,” he said.
MLB.com said Stan Bregman, the player's grandfather, was a lawyer who represented the Washington Senators and negotiated Williams' deal to become manager.
Boston has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and had avoided signing the highest-profile free agents. Boras said a conversation with Red Sox controlling owner John Henry showed ownership’s desire to get back to winning.
“I think it was after Soto signed,’’ Boras said, citing the record contract he negotiated for Juan Soto with the Mets. “We had a discussion. I could tell knowing John back with the Marlins and such, he had a real onus about ‘we need to do things differently than what we’ve done before.’
“This is a point and time where I believe Red Sox ownership was hungry for championship play and exhausted with what had happened the last five, six years.”
Called the “perfect fit” by Breslow, the 30-year-old Bregman joined the Red Sox after winning two World Series titles and reaching the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons with Houston.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the playoffs the first eight years of my career, and I plan on continuing to do that here,” he said in his opening remarks. “I’m a winning player and this is a winning organization.”
Coming off an 81-81 season, the Red Sox acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and signed fellow pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson during the offseason.
After the pitching moves, they found a right-handed bat, too.
“As the offseason progressed it just became clearer and clearer that Alex was the perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish,” Breslow said.
Bregman ranks first among players with at least 75 career plate appearances in Fenway Park with an OPS of 1.240.
“He fits like a glove for our organization,” Kennedy said.